Someone kindly reached out to ask if I would consider speaking about Gaza Verified at the Social Web Devroom being organised by the Social Web Foundation at FOSDEM.

My answer is no.

And I feel it’s important that those of us who care about such things understand why:

• Social Web Foundation (https://socialwebfoundation.org) partners with, and thereby whitewashes and legitimises Meta

• FOSDEM (https://fosdem.org/2026) allows itself to be sponsored by, and thereby whitewashes and legitimises, Google and IBM (Red Hat)

Meta and Google are both surveillance capitalists with strong ties to the Trump regime that is supporting Israel’s genocide in Gaza. IBM, apart from having helped Nazi Germany carry out the Holocaust, is also singled out by name, alongside Google (Alphabet, Inc.), as complicit in Israel’s ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people (‪https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/1/un-report-lists-companies-complicit-in-israels-genocide-who-are-they).

It shouldn’t be hard for organisations that purport to be alternatives to toxic Big Tech to not be sponsored and affiliated with them. But apparently it is.

Personally, I have no trouble saying no to having my name and legitimacy being used to whitewash these corporations and I have been doing so since the beginning.

• ‪ https://ar.al/2019/01/11/i-was-wrong-about-google-and-facebook-theres-nothing-wrong-with-them-so-say-we-all/

• ‪ https://ar.al/notes/rightscon-or-a-right-con/

I will not stand – literally or metaphorically – in front of their banners and talk about an initiative that tries to help the very people victimised by these corporations in their sociopathic quest for profit at any cost.

I hope more people start doing the same if we are to have any chance of making these corporations with their toxic business models and their complicity in genocide socially unacceptable. If we cannot even meet that already-very-low bar – as long as those of us with legitimacy allow ourselves to be used to normalise them – nothing will change.

#FOSDEM #SocialWebFoundation #BigTech #sponsorship #whitewashing #legitimisation #institutionalCorruption #israel #genocide #Gaza #Palestine #GazaVerified

“Bring them home”.

A protest takes place outside the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark, in support of Palestine and calling for the release of all Palestinian detainees held by Israeli occupation forces.

#Israel #Palestine #Gaza

Breaking | Two Palestinian solidarity activists were abducted tonight by Israeli settlers and occupation forces in Tuwani, southern occupied West Bank.

Settlers from the Havat Maon outpost, disguised in Israeli military uniforms, intercepted the activists on a public road, brandishing rifles and forcibly taking their car keys.

Despite committing no offense, the activists were detained, handcuffed, blindfolded, and loaded into military vehicles by the occupation army, who arrived at the scene, before being driven to an unknown location.

#Israel #Palestine #Gaza #WestBank

The fact this not on the front page of every newspaper in the world shows that
- Racism is stronger than war crime
- Israel can't be portrayed as guilty in any major crimes
- They are not allowed to post such stories
- All of the above
#israel #WarCrime #Occupation #Media #WestBank #Palestine #Hypocrisy

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/west-bank-israeli-forces-execute-two-palestinians-point-blank-range

@palestine@lemmy.ml
@palestine@fedibird.com

Alt...

West Bank: Israeli forces execute two Palestinians at point-blank range Video footage shows men in Jenin unarmed and complying before soldiers open fire

"Amnesty International has said Israel is 'still committing genocide' against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, despite the ceasefire agreed last month."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/27/israel-still-committing-genocide-in-gaza-amnesty-international-says

@palestine #Palestine #Israel #Gaza

Israeli occupation forces are forcibly removing families from their homes in Al-Far'a refugee camp, north of the occupied West Bank, on the third day of the ongoing offensive in the area.

#Israel #Palestine #Gaza #WestBank

An Israeli drone dropped explosive devices on a home in the village of Houla, southern Lebanon, early this morning, causing extensive destruction.

#Israel #Palestine #Gaza #Lebanon